Back to the Halloween Parade

 

10/24/26 Maple Leaf Halloween Parade
The traffic cone was my favorite costume!

The drizzle that turned into rain didn’t deter the kids, dogs and their families who turned out for the Maple Leaf Halloween Parade. Beginning at Maple Leaf Park, the slow-moving parade eventually wound its way past neighborhood businesses and even homes along the route who gave out candy. Although I didn’t follow the parade as I have some years, I had fun catching what I could while everyone gathered at the park. I wished I’d snapped photos of the funny costumes, but I can either sketch or photograph but not both!

Greg and I always enjoyed watching the parade together. After he moved to memory care, I stopped going – I didn’t have the heart to go alone because I knew it would make me miss him (and feel sadness for all that he was missing).

This year I decided to go. I need to start doing things again that I used to enjoy with him. One of the hardest things about loss is that the parade goes on; I don’t want to keep missing it just because I miss him.

The banana man was taking pics of his wife and child, also dressed like bananas. I regret that I couldn't sketch the whole family!

Technical note: You can see a few raindrops here and there, but it was raining much harder than my sketchbook indicates. That's definitely a benefit of using waterproof markers like the Pitt Artist Brush Pens I used.

Sublime Sunrise

 

10/24/26 sunrise, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Light in my peripheral vision made me look up from my breakfast: a sublime sunrise! Letting my remaining coffee go cold, I dashed upstairs to catch as much color as I could. Sparse clouds formed intriguing stripes above Her Majesty. Minutes later, it all changed.

Putting this scanned image into my PC’s “skyscapito” folder, I found the last one I had made – sunset last February (below)! I had been waiting to accumulate a few more sketches before writing a blog post, but I didn’t make another until Saturday. Better late than never, I suppose, though I’m disappointed that I’ve fallen out of the skyscapito groove.

2/25/26 sunset, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Food Reviews (and Comments on AI)

 

4/6/26 quiche at Cloudy Cafe, Ballard

I have lots of pages from my daily sketch journal this year that I’ve been collecting in a folder, hoping to eventually find some kind of theme to make a cohesive blog post. I finally found one. You’ve seen plenty of pastries I’ve consumed, which may lead you to the conclusion that that’s the only food type I sketch (or eat!). Shown here are some foods I’ve eaten that are not pastries.

6/19/26 Xiao long bao at Supreme Dumplings, South Lake Union

Incidentally, I must tell you how I found Irwin’s Bakery & Café, where I enjoyed a very good hot croissant sandwich (called an “Eggel,” shown at end of post, because you can choose to get it on a bagel if you prefer). But first, some context:

7/26/26 avocado Benedict at Salt & Iron, Edmonds

If you’ll recall, a while back I talked about how I used ChatGPT to critique a couple of sketches. That novelty wore off immediately, and I never did it again. However, I have been using AI judiciously for other purposes, and the most productive has been for travel planning. For example, when I was planning my trip to the Bay Area last month, ChatGPT gave me an efficient itinerary for getting from San Jose to Palo Alto by train. It also offered useful tips on taking advantage of a shuttle instead of expending time and energy walking more than necessary on Stanford’s huge campus. It even gave me suggestions for the best places to have lunch on campus. It was all easily available information that I could have researched myself, piece by piece, but that would have taken hours. ChatGPT pulled it all together in a matter of seconds.

8/21/26 nigiri sushi at AA Sushi, Ballard

When I asked for it, it also gave me areas I should avoid on foot and others that were safe to walk in daylight. That type of information is harder to find by using basic Google searches.

8/24/26 nigiri sushi at Musashi, Wallingford (I deliberately purchased the same assortment as the few days prior at AA Sushi to compare the quality and cost. Musashi won on price, but it lacked presentation.)

In San Jose’s Japantown, which was filled with sushi restaurants, AI helped me find exactly the kind of menu and ambiance I like (I’m picky, and I had given it several specific criteria).

9/3/26 tuna salad croissant sandwich at Petit Pierre (Potato chips sounded like a novel, crunchy addition, but the premade, refrigerated sandwich rendered the chips soggy.)

Back to my croissant sandwich. In my endless quest for a “third place,” I sometimes ask AI for coffee shop suggestions, hoping it will find something new. Ho-hum – nothing. I’ve also been disappointed when the coffee might be great, but the pastries are plastic-wrapped (obviously not house-baked). Then I changed my request: “Find a bakery that also has a pleasant seating area, not just a takeout counter.” Irwin’s Bakery was one result (see the sandwich at end of post).

10/7/26 Cock-a-doodle-do appetizer at Noi Thai, Green Lake (The description of this dish didn't really interest me, but the photo was so beautiful that I couldn't resist ordering it; a friend helped me eat it.)

Though I’m still cautious in how I use it, I see AI’s place as an effective research tool.

10/11/26 soft bean burrito at Taco Time near the Amgen Helix Bridge (Some of the best food experiences are the ones that prompt long-forgotten memories -- even at Taco Time.)

10/22/26 hot croissant "Eggel" at Irwin's Bakery & Cafe, Wallingford

Golden Hour Drink & Draw

 

10/23/26 Project 9 Brewing Co., Maple Leaf neighborhood

Baloo and another dog (top), who was with
a different party. 

Project 9 Brewing has two large outdoor seating areas: a sheltered area on the north side with heaters, and a (potentially) sunny patio on the south side with lots of umbrella’d tables. When I first arrived for Friday’s drink & draw, I scoped out both areas to see which would be more comfortable. At 4 p.m., the sunshine was brilliant, warming the otherwise chilly afternoon. I picked the sunny patio, which gave us a lovely golden hour glow.

It was fun sketching backlit Stephanie, Abby and Kaisa (top of post), whom I could see easily at the next table. I was pleased that I had captured all three of their likenesses relatively well (and believe me, I don’t say that often when I sketch other sketchers). 

The most fun, though, was my favorite model of the evening, Jenny’s dog, Baloo. In fact, the quick colored pencil sketch I made from an unusual top view of his head (below) was especially satisfying. (Now that we’re nearing the end of InkTober, you think maybe I’m craving pencils?)

With the bittersweetness we all feel at this time of year, we fondly reminisced about our drink & draw last April, when the same sunny patio was a joyful preview of summer to come. This time, we sighed about the oncoming Big Dark. By sundown, it was too cold to sketch, so we called it a night.

Ahhh, pencil -- how I've missed you.

Backlit Wallingford

 

10/22/26 Wallingford neighborhood

When an errand brought me to the Wallingford neighborhood, it gave me an opportunity to take a leaf-peeping walk through some residential streets that I don’t usually see. Although it was only early afternoon, I could tell that the sun was already low in the sky compared to summer. This type of challenging backlit view always calls to me.

Technical note: After complaining yesterday about not liking the ways I’ve been indicating a clear sky with markers, I came up with an obvious solution. The sky is almost always the lightest, brightest part of an outdoor scene; why not leave it paper-white? It’s funny, though: When I deliberately leave a sky white, I’m usually indicating that it was overcast (which it is most of the year), and if it happens to be blue, it’s important to me to color it blue. But all the sharp shadows are doing the job of indicating a clear sky, so I’m good with that.

We're having a phenomenal leaf-peeping season this year!

Tardy with the Sweet Gums

 

10/20/26 Green Lake

For my annual homage, I try to catch the Green Lake sweet gums at their prime. Although I’ve been admiring them on my weekly fitness walks around the lake, I didn’t get around to sketching them until a few days ago – a bit past peak. I stopped at one of my favorite viewpoints across the lake.

Technical notes: I think I’ve only ever sketched these trees with either watercolor pencils or watercolor paints – certainly never markers! As mentioned previously, since I’m all in with Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens for the rest of InkTober, I’m not carrying any other color medium but the markers right now. I got a bit twitchy when I started this sketch; I really wanted to use watercolor crayons and pencils, which seem ideal for the colorful blur of distant trees (one of my favorites using watercolor pencils is this one from a nearby spot a year ago). Even though I don’t like the result as much, I did enjoy the challenge of using brush markers. It’s always good not to fall back on the comfy same-ol’, same ol’, especially during InkTober.

So far, my biggest frustration with markers is that I still haven’t found a way to represent a clear sky in a way that I like. I don’t want to make a solid mass of color full of unavoidable marker streaks, but I don’t like this stripey look, either. With clouds present, I like the cartoony look I discovered a coupleof weeks ago. We’ll see if I get enough clear skies during the rest of InkTober to practice again.

“It Gets Complicated”

 

10/19/26 Fresh Flours Bakery, Phinney Ridge neighborhood

I’m pretty sure they had their facts wrong about probate in Washington State, but I didn’t think they would appreciate my jumping into their conversation to correct them.

I did, however, learn all details of the friend’s will and complicating circumstances that the two women were discussing at Fresh Flours as I sketched. I regret that I couldn’t write fast enough to record everything I overheard, but I made a separate image below so that you could read my notes  more easily. 😉